Section 18: A small well is witnesses of the deep friendship

So call a small well is witnesses of the deep friendship of the villagers

There are several old wells in the new village that were built in different periods of the last century. Some of the old wells are nearly a hundred years old, and some of them are decades old. Many wells were dug before the state of emergency. Since it was built in different ages, it contains different historical backgrounds and bears the vicissitudes of life for three generations.

As early as 60 years ago, the villagers' water supply came from rainwater and well water. New Chinese villages will dig wells to solve the water supply problem. Every new village has at least 1 to 2 wells, and villagers rely on well water for drinking and washing purposes.

In the early days, these old wells in the village had the characteristics of the times. Before the 1960s, people called the old wells the well platform. The lively villagers talk about everything, as if this is the only way to relieve the fatigue of doing farm work all day.

The well platform is the news release station for the villagers, and they will send out the news they have seen and heard in the village and other villages recently. The villagers told the news to their families, and the women at home told the news to their friends. This is the characteristic of the new village, and the way of news dissemination is also a traditional transmission method in the early days of the new village.

Although it is very troublesome to fetch water, one has to line up and the other has to wait, especially in dry weather, when the water level drops after fetching several loads of water, it takes a long time to get water. Some also fetch water to take a shower at a neighbor's house, so that they can save a few buckets of water, and then use a pole to carry two buckets of water home. In the late 1960s, in the absence of water sources, carrying water became the most important thing for every household, and the villagers had no choice.

So far, there are still a few old wells that have been preserved, and when the dawn is slightly dewed，those who carry water are no longer seen. Since the convenience of running water became available, some of them were filled in by the homeowners when rebuilding the houses. Now, when the water is cut off, I feel their preciousness.